Guo Hua Cai Lee Lin Chin

After migrating from Singapore to Australia, Lee Lin Chin has established herself here as a well-known television newsreader. Guo Hua Cai sees her as a role model for many Australian migrants.

Speaking on behalf of the artist, Chin says: “I think he selected me because we are both Chinese and he feels his work is rooted more in a Chinese than Western art tradition. Because of his relative youth I wouldn’t describe him as a painter in the traditional Chinese style, however. He is quite a modernist.”

Chin admits that when she first saw the portrait she felt that her hands were somewhat large. The artist explained that this was symbolic. “He sees me as someone, from the migrant’s point of view, who has arrived at some kind of mainstream success and acceptance through hard work and determination. He said that when you speak in Mandarin, talking about somebody who has achieved something, the language used to describe their road to success is quite physical.”

Cai studied Fine Arts in China at the Shanghai Textile Engineering College and the Shanghai Jiaotong University. He then went to Japan and did a Bachelor of Arts and a Masters Degree in oil painting at Musashino Art University.